Ashes and Embers
by crimsonkiwi
Summary: Zuko has just joined the Gaang and is determined to earn forgiveness through just about any means.
1. Welcome to the Gaang

Zuko had spent three years chasing the Avatar and his honor, and now he was seated by a campfire in the Western Air Temple next to Aang, the first person his own age (sort of) who he had considered a friend in years.

Growing up, he had watched Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai fend off throngs of their zealous peers, finding himself just as popular amongst the turtleducks in the palace ponds. At sixteen, he found himself included in a circle of tight-knit friends. He allowed himself to think of them as his allies, cautious not to overstep the less than warm welcome he had received from the Avatar and his companions.

A shout from Sokka snapped Zuko out of his daydream-though with Azula involved, it was more a nightmare.

"Katara! I'm a growing man! I NEED more meat in my soup," he whined at his sister.

"Then maybe you should have caught more," she said, unmoved by her brother's pleas for protein. She continued, addressing the rest of the group, "And if no one has any more complaints, I'll be starting the dishes."

A heavy silence fell over the group, but was quickly lifted by Suki.

"Sokka, your muscles are plenty big," she said, putting an arm around his shoulder.

"There's plenty of vacant rooms not on this level," Toph glowered.

"But," Suki continued to Sokka, "I don't think we need to feed your ego any more tonight."

Toph put her left hand up, high fiving Suki. Sokka's mouth fell open, though his bruised pride was quickly soothed with more soup, which Zuko passed around to him.

Family meals were unfamiliar to Zuko, and as he looked around the circle for the dozenth time that night, he silently thanked Toph for sneak attacking him in the woods a week before. She seemed to hear him as she flashed him a wicked grin from across the circle and wiggled her toes close to the fire. He instantly felt guilt rush through him, and tried to reduce the size of the campfire without anyone noticing.

Zuko knew that Toph was only playing him, guilting him into a piggy back ride or a horseback ride as she pleased, claiming her feet hurt. However, the banished prince much preferred the earthbender over Azula as far as younger sisters go.

After his banishment, Zuko had tried to claim his "lost honor" and father's approval for years. He knew that by joining this group, he would be working to obtain something much more difficult: forgiveness from people he had hurt. Toph, Aang, and even Sokka were already friendly towards him, and Zuko had tried to apologize to Suki for half burning down her village only to be interrupted with a good-natured hug.

Zuko had not gone on a heroic rescue mission with Katara. She did not ask him for piggy back rides. She was not a monk of the air tribe who was naturally incapable of holding a grudge. He knew she would not ask for help with the dishes. He just needed a chance to prove he was useful to the group as more than Aang's firebending instructor.

Katara returned to the circle for the rest of the bowls. Zuko leapt to his feet as she arrived.

"Let me help," he said.

"I took care of the chores before you got here and I can handle them now, Zuko," she said, stooping to grab Suki and Sokka's bowls. Zuko stepped towards her.

"Katara please-"

Zuko was interrupted as Katara whirled around, not expecting him to be standing so close. The bowls she had been holding a second before splashed leftover soup all over the firebender. The campfire flared up. Toph pulled back her feet just in time.

"Watch it, Sparky!" She yelped and pulled her knees up to her chin, curling into a ball.

"...Sorry, Katara," Zuko said. "Would you mind..."

With a huff, she bent the soup out of his hair and tunic. She picked up the bowls and scowled at him before marching off.

Aang, who had been unusually quiet throughout the meal, stood slowly and doused the fire with a stream of water.

Zuko's shoulders fell.

"I'll go apologize," he said.

"Maybe wait until tomorrow. She's probably tired from working all day," Sokka said. "I'd say we're all pretty tired."

"I could use some sleep. Aang, are air temple beds more comfortable than Fire Nation prison bunks?" Suki asked, always trying to lighten the mood.

"Sure," Aang replied distractedly, searching for his glider behind him. Zuko looked over at his student, furrowing his brow.

"Aaaaaalrighty then," Sokka said, pulling Suki up. "I'm gonna help Suki settle in and then take a nice long nap."

"Snoozles...it's not a nap if it's sleeping," Toph was already half asleep herself when she spoke. Sokka's face twisted into a look in between utterly bewildered and intensely thoughtful, making Suki laugh as she pulled him away from the fire by the arm.

"Isn't a nap sleeping?" Zuko asked, teasing Toph and trying to draw Aang into the conversation.

As Toph was now snoring and Aang was staring intently at the ashes, Zuko dropped his attempt at conversation and picked Toph up.

"Piggyback to my room," she mumbled as he walked. Zuko pretended not to hear, and her head promptly dropped onto his shoulder.

"Aang?" Zuko turned back to face the remains of the fire.

"I need to think." Aang's glider snapped open and a gust carried him into the cloudless night.

"Nice flying weather," Zuko said to himself. He yawned and trudged to Toph's room.


	2. Night Flying

Chapter 2

Gliding helped Aang clear his mind. He had to sense the slightest changes in air currents to keep himself aloft, wondering if Appa flew the same way. Usually, focusing on the air's movement helped Aang let his thoughts wander, but he kept returning to Katara's outburst at dinner.

When Katara was troubled, Aang found he was troubled, though he never dared ask what was troubling her. He tried to search for some moonpeaches to bring back to the temple. Maybe a dragonheart fruit. Katara would love how sweet they were. Maybe she would be a little less bitter about Zuko coming along.

Aang was sure the firebender's presence was what had set Katara on edge. In the week Zuko had been with them, Katara had snapped several times a day. Usually Zuko was victim to her most fiery tirades, but he stayed calm. For a moment Aang thought, _Zuko deserves to be yelled at_. He tied her to a tree, attacked her village, and something happened under Ba Sing Se that had made Katara completely unwilling to trust him when he showed up to join the group.

Aang tried not to read into the situation, hoping instead that Katara would become more comfortable around Zuko eventually. She had looked about ready to use the soup she spilled as a water whip at dinner. Aang concluded that it would take Katara more than time to accept Zuko as a member of the group.

First she would have to allow Zuko to teach Aang firebending as she had taught him waterbending. If Aang could get the two of them to fight on the same side instead of against each other, say in a sparring match of teachers versus student, she could at least see the firebender as more than the banished prince who had chased them for years. It was far from friendship, Aang knew, but it was a step towards forgiveness.


	3. Kitchen Duty

Toph's room was identical to all the other Air Temple rooms that had remained uninhabited for a hundred years. The rooms were simple: a bedroll, a blanket, and maybe a pillow. Fortunately, Toph preferred sleeping on the floor by the door, so Zuko gently let her down in her usual spot and draped the blanket over her. He was careful not to cover her feet.

In spite of Sokka's advice to wait to Katara, Zuko found himself moving towards the kitchen area. Given her usual hostile mood in the mornings, Zuko figured it would have been even more dangerous to talk to her anytime before lunch.

Zuko knocked on the kitchen door before entering to alert Katara of his arrival. There was silence from behind the door.

He cleared his throat. "Katara?"

There was another long moment of silence. He could barely hear her when she finally spoke. Her "come in" was clipped, but not terse as earlier. He opened the door to find her sitting in a corner at the far left side of the kitchen. His unscarred eyebrow shot up when he saw how she was seated: her knees where drawn to her forehead and her head tucked to her chest so her face was hidden. He crossed the kitchen in three steps and dropped to one knee next to her.

"Katara," he repeated, more urgency in his voice. His hand moved towards her, but he withdrew it when he realized he had no idea where to touch her without provoking her aggression. He considered putting his hand on her arm, or knee, or maybe head, but found each option to be more ridiculous than the last.

"Katara. Please," he finally spoke, "what's going on?"

Her voice was muffled, but she sounded like she had been crying. _She is crying_, he realized. He decidedly placed his hand on her knee. So decidedly, in fact, that he more slapped his hand onto her leg. She recoiled, pulling her head up and flailing her arms out to her sides. Her elbow connected with his shoulder.

Zuko yelped, but Katara shushed him as soon as he made the sound.

"Your elbows are so bony," he complained, rubbing his shoulder.

"It's not my fault," she hissed back. "Why did you slap my leg?" She swiped her forearm across her eyes, hoping he hadn't yet noticed she'd been crying.

"I-you were crying," he stumbled.

"Are you always this good at helping people?" She raised her voice to a normal volume.

Zuko looked away from her. He shifted uncomfortably to a cross-legged position, careful not to touch her again.

"I just thought I'd see if you needed help with the dishes," he tried changed the subject, still studying the floor. The scarred side of his visage faced Katara. The scar didn't look as menacing to her as it had for so long. In that moment, he looked-

"Hurt," she thought aloud, mesmerized by the comet-shaped mark.

"You're hurt?" he asked, renewed concern in his voice as he looked up at her.

"I'm fine," she said indignantly. "And I finished the dishes an hour ago."

"So why aren't you in bed?"

"Um, cleaning," she hesitated, hoping he would accept her excuse and stop asking questions.

"Are you crying because of a hundred years of dust buildup?" he joked.

A choked laugh escaped her throat. She wiped at her right eye with her sleeve, trying to catch a tear before it too escaped.

"You've done enough for today. For this week, really," Zuko said. "I'll help you up."

He stood and extended a hand to her. Her hand hovered over his for a moment before she took it. She stumbled as she stood up, grabbing his shoulder.

"Ow," he winced. "Now we're even, I guess."

He glanced at her and saw a storm pass through her eyes and thought she would go off on him again.

"Because of earlier, I mean," he fumbled, letting go of her hand and reaching for the back of his neck.

"Is everyone asleep?" she asked.

"I put Toph in her room. Aang went off flying. Sokka and Suki are probably-"

"Good enough." She sounded exhausted. She ran her hands over her tunic, smoothing it down. "I'm going to bed."

"Your room is next to Toph's," he said.

"I know."

She quickly passed him to leave but felt a painful wave of nausea spread through her stomach and back. She tried to keep walking, but found her legs unwilling to hold. She would have crashed into the shelves next to the door, but Zuko caught her from behind, holding her up by her elbows as her legs gave out.

"How about we switch rooms for tonight? Mine is just across the hall," Zuko offered.

"You're sure you want to listen to Toph snore all night?"

Zuko laughed. Katara realized she had never heard his laugh before. It was rough and raspy like his normal speaking voice, but it sounded less strained, freer than she would have thought. "I don't mind," he replied.

He supported one of her arms as they walked across the hall. He hung back at the door and made sure she made it under the blanket. In the morning, he promised himself, he would make himself talk to her. If she was upset and hadn't told Aang or Sokka, there was a very small chance she would trust him, but Zuko promised he would ask her if she wanted to talk about it.


	4. Afternoon, Sunshine

"Katara?"

Katara did not want to wake up.

"Hey, Katara."

She rolled over to face the wall. The voice was too loud for the morning.

"Hey, Katara, it's almost the middle of the day," Zuko whispered. He shook her shoulder tentatively.

"Wait, what? Why didn't anybody wake me up?" After sitting up too fast, she leaned back on her elbows. She stared him down, waiting for an answer.

"Uh, well, I did wake you," he said, shifting his weight onto his back foot, distancing himself from her vicious glare. As angry as her eyes were, her arms were shaking trying to hold her up. She sat up slowly and turned, her feet dropping off the side of her bed.

"Who made breakfast? They know Aang is vegetarian, right? The last time he accidentally had meat-"

"Calm down." Zuko knelt in front of her, holding his hands up between them. "I took care of it, don't worry. I still had some dragonfruits and flatbreads in my pack from when I was traveling here."

"You gave them moldy flatbread?!" Katara regretted raising her voice as soon as she spat the first word. She doubled over, coughing.

"No, no, it was from a market I passed," Zuko said. He sat next to her on her bed and helped her sit back up as the coughing passed. "Katara, what's going on?"

"If I knew, don't you think I would have done something about it? Besides, I'm fine now. It's passed."

"It's not just the coughing." His voice was pleading. "You can barely hold yourself up and you're worried about the others?"

Katara sat in silence as his words connected with her like a slap to the face. She stared at the floor, unblinking.

"It's just been my job this whole time," she said in a distant voice. She would have used the same tone in giving a stranger directions to a shop. At least Zuko thought he might have progressed from 'trust-breaking enemy' to 'unknown stranger.'

Katara went on after a moment. "I'm supposed to take care of them," she said.

"Why do you think that?" Zuko asked, genuinely bemused.

"I was used to taking care of Sokka after our mom died, and Aang came along and had no one. Toph is still a child. Who expects a twelve-year-old to take care of herself?" When she looked up at Zuko, her face was flushed.

"Who expects a fourteen-year-old to take care of three other people?" He locked his eyes with hers. "You forget to take care of yourself."

"Myself."

The word sounded foreign to her as she looked down at see her hand under Zuko's. She had barely thought about herself since leaving Ba Sing Se. Aang had almost died there. How could she take her attention off him for a minute? When was the last time she had even looked in a mirror?

"You're right, Zuko." She pulled away from him, sitting up. A second later she embraced him quickly. He was caught off guard and almost fell backward off the end of her bed. "Thank you for reminding me that there are six people in this group."

Six people. Right after the surprise hug, he was taken by surprise again. Six people. Katara had counted him in the group. He broke into an awkward smile.

"You look goofy, Zuko," she laughed. "Did you smell your own cooking or something?"

He stood abruptly and cleared his throat.

"Well, you're obviously feeling better, so I'll tell Aang you're ready for training."

"Oh, uh, okay," she raised an eyebrow at him, suspicious of the sudden change in mood.

"Yeah. See you outside," his voice cracked on the last syllable as he walked briskly out of the room. His room, Katara remembered. She scrambled to the hallway.

What would the others think about her walking out of Zuko's room? Suki was too observant not to notice. Toph would definitely know. Sokka would freak out if anyone said anything. Aang-

"Katara!"

She turned to see Suki waving at her, smiling. If she was in the boys' hallway she must have been talking to Sokka.

"Morning, Sleepy," she said, walking up next to Katara. "We were getting worried. Toph thought you might have caught something."

"Oh no, there's no reason to worry. I was just, uh, up late cleaning up the kitchen." Either Toph knew too much or Suki was a scary good guesser.

"You know, if you ever need help, you can ask," Suki smiled. "Toph might not be up to it, but I don't mind. I used to what you do for the Warriors when we were on the move."

"Oh, thanks. I'll let you know, Suki."

"Sokka can tuck himself in just fine," Suki winked at Katara and laughed.

Katara, suddenly much less comfortable in their conversation, decided sparring had just then become very urgent. "Yeah, well, I have to go train with Aang," she said, trying to turn off any thought of her brother's love life as she made her way to their training area.

Author's note: Hi everyone, sorry I've taken forever updating. I've been on a serious writer's block as well as dealing with some stuff at home, but things are good now. Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and especially commented/reviewed! Much appreciated. Another chapter coming soon, featuring some sparring and such. Also, I'm not super sure where I'm taking this plot-wise, so if you have any suggestions or feelings about what's going on please let me know. All reviews are appreciated :)


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